Stockholm Syndrome

Chapter 5: Surgery and Confrontation

We sat in the nearly empty room as I filled out paperwork. I had never undergone surgery, so I was a little bit nervous and scared, but I had the night and hopefully good drugs to sleep it off. Raleigh sitting right next to me helped ease my nerves a lot. I was told I wouldn't be able to walk for a week after my surgery or do any heavy lifting. Shit. Fuck, I still had to tell Mark. Mark...I still couldn't believe he had the balls to sleep with my...well now ex...wife. I wondered how Jen was holding up. My head swam with bad thoughts and I slammed the pen onto the insurance paper.

"Jesus Christ, Tom," Raleigh said, holding her chest.

"Sorry, I was having bad thoughts," I responded, crossing my legs. I was almost finished with the fucking paperwork, thank God.

I asked her to take up the clipboard for me. Once that was over and done with, she sat back down and said, "the chick said they'll come and get you shortly. Are you okay?"

I lied, "yeah, except for the gnarly pain in my back. Fuck, I wish I had a guitar right now because I've got some melodies running through my head."
"Hum them for me then," she said. I rose my eyebrow at her questioningly.

"Really?"
"Yeah."

For about five minutes I quietly hummed the melodies that were embedded into my head. Then a couple girls in scrubs came out into the room and said, "DeLonge?"
"Shit, that's me," I stood up with Raleigh's help.

"Well, Tom, good luck tomorrow morning," she looked into my eyes so innocently. I let out a smile, the last one for the night. I embraced her suddenly, and she didn't immediately hug back, but when she did, a chill was sent through my body.

"Thanks, Raleigh. I'll see you later."
"Tomorrow. I'll be here in the afternoon," She said and I became even more relaxed. I looked over at the nurses, then back at Raleigh, and then I walked away.

All I saw was white. White walls with beeping machines and white ceiling tiles with white tracks they were set on. My head was spinning, my back hurt like fucking hell. There was a disturbing sterile smell in there that stung my nose. I glanced around the room, my eyes moving slower than my brain.

"One...two...three," a male voice said and suddenly I was flying! I was fucking in the air! I had no use of my limbs, but I was flying. Then I crashed.

My hair was moved away from my eyes. Then something was put on my face and strapped around my head. The fuck was going on here? I saw a man with glasses and a green thing on his mouth and he was talking but since I couldn't see his mouth I had no idea where the noise was coming from.

"Mr. DeLonge, count backwards from ten for me."
Shit. "Ten....nine...eight...seven...six...fi-" Blackness surrounded me.

I'm falling. Fuck, where am I? I'm surrounded by nothing. Wait, I see something. It's coming into my vision. Who is she? Shit its Jen!

"JEN!" I scream loudly at her. She looks in my direction and I have the biggest smile on my face. She walks towards me. My heart jumps. She smiles and I run into her. Wait....where did she go? I turn around, the smile now gone from my face. Jennifer is over standing next to Mark. She hugs him. He kisses her. I stand shocked with disbelief. Jen turns around and smiles slyly at me. I fall into a black hole.

"Tom? Tom? Mr. DeLonge?"

I blinked rapidly. My eyes were really heavy. My back hurt like fucking hell. Some dude in a rolling chair came to my bedside. He wrote some stuff down on a clipboard and then said, "are you here with anyone?"

"My wi- I mean...no sir, no I'm not," I replied, suddenly sad because I was alone. The dude went back to what he was previously doing and I let my eyes close once again, hoping the back pain would go away.